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Paramount confirms that the HD DVD release of the film has been scrapped

Further Details:
Paramount Home Entertainment has announced 1-disc and 2-disc special editions of the Tim Burton directed Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street which stars Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter. The film itself will be presented in anamorphic widescreen, along with an English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track. The only extra feature on the 1-disc release will be a Burton + Depp + Carter = Todd featurette. The 2-disc will include that, along with 8 additional featurettes (Sweeney Todd is Alive: The Real History of the Demon Barber, Musical Mayhem: Sondheim's Sweeney Todd, Sweeney's London, The Making of Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Grand Guignol: A Theatrical Tradition, Designs for a Demon Barber, A Bloody Business, and The Razor's Refrain), a Moviefone Unscripted with Tim Burton and Johnny Depp feature, a Sweeney Todd Press Conference, a photo gallery, and the trailer. A previously announced HD DVD release has now been cancelled due to the rapid decline of the format.

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Worst Nightmare wrote: Dunny wrote: drdave319 wrote: I was so incredibly sick (..and tired!) of people saying "I'm getting the HD-DVD!" Especially when they KNEW BLU-RAY was a much better format!

was that a fanboy rant or can you back it up with facts?

Shame it's cancelled, for the amount Paramount got paid to become exclusive you'd think they might have completed their announced lineup.I agree with you Dunny - Blu-Ray 2.0 is only just coming out with options that HD-DVD has had since 2006....

Doesn't matter that only now blu-ray comes out with options HD DVD supposedly had in 2006. What matters the most is that there is now one format. I for one can wait a little longer for these "options"....

does that mean they'll finally scr@p region coding and use vc-1 compression on all discs? ;D

always knew hd dvd would lose, just wish it didn't happen so quickly! at least now i get to reap the benefit of cheap hd dvds (i'm picking heaps up for as low as $7.46AUD brand new!) and before anyone can say 'why did you waste your money if you knew it was going to lose': imo i didn't. the player still works and is covered by MS warranty. the discs still work - so i can watch any of them any time i choose to. apart from that, i already own a blu-ray player in the form of a ps3.

Dunny wrote: drdave319 wrote: I was so incredibly sick (..and tired!) of people saying "I'm getting the HD-DVD!" Especially when they KNEW BLU-RAY was a much better format!

was that a fanboy rant or can you back it up with facts?

Shame it's cancelled, for the amount Paramount got paid to become exclusive you'd think they might have completed their announced lineup.I agree with you Dunny - Blu-Ray 2.0 is only just coming out with options that HD-DVD has had since 2006....

Im pretty sure Transformers is going to be a delaying Blu-ray plan for Paramount, since the HD DVD is out and it has been and still is the Best Selling HD DVD out there, many (consumers) of which already own it. They want to release it years later after all the HD DVD copies are out of stock and it eventually becomes a rare title on HD.

You can bet your bottom dollar you'll get double-dippin' releases in Blu-Ray as much as standard in the near future. It's called squeezing money out of the consumer's pocket-who cares what format it is

Finally! No HD-DVD!! I was so incredibly sick (..and tired!) of people saying "I'm getting the HD-DVD!" Especially when they KNEW BLU-RAY was a much better format! Guess they were suckered into the "cheap" players and they needed to justify it to themselves!

there are rumors that because the HDDVD release of Cloverfield has also been cancelled, in order to rush out the blu-ray, they're gonna sc**p all the extras they had made for it in order to get the blu-ray out the same day as the HDDVD was going to come out. so this means a barebones release.

i hope that isnt true, delay the release and make sure its the same editon. we dont need to start double dipping blu-ray too.

i paid for this, and i thought it was a scary movie, i cant tell u so,

Then why did you go in the first place? It's not secret that it's a musical. It's been around for almost 30 years. Doesn't anyone do research before they go to the movies?A good trailer can draw in an unwary soul...

Yup, me too. Notice how the companies the last HD-DVD announcements have been slow on pics. That's because companies now have to prep their Blu-Ray releases. I for one hope that is the case with this DVD at least

I can agree with some of the others saying this is Burton's best... and that's a huge compliment. If this is indeed released on HD-DVD, then it's an amazon marketplace purchase for me (a few days after the release, that is)

disciple...I'm sure the scan is not precise. There's probably more to the art behind the slip sleeve, and that's why his name is covered up.

mc_serenity: People are probably stoked for the 2-disc just because, well, Burton doesn't care for "special features" and such, for one. But also, with this being a musical, it's nice to see behind-the-scenes of the rehearsals which took place with Stephen Sondheim, pre-recording sessions, and none of this has ever been shown. Unless "rehearsals" means something else, which means we are still getting something new that is not online still. But I'm pretty certain it is the cast working with Sondheim discussing how to 'perform' in the studio. And on that note, it looks like we're getting more of a look at the recording studio sessions, which is always fun to see. I personally am interested in watching the Grand Guignol special, and of course more about Sondheim and the original musical. I'm pretty sure I've seen everything this man has said on the subject of this musical of his - but if it's new footage, I can't wait to hear him talk about it more. I love hearing Sondheim talk about his shows. He's a genius, and this musical is his masterpiece. Well, one of them anyhow, as I feel A Little Night Music is possibly greater or at LEAST equal.

Btw, does your username have to do with Firefly/Serenity by any chance?

Why are people so enthused about the 2-disc edition? It doesn't have a commentary for one, and the bonus features don't look that great. And while I'm thrilled this is a widescreen-only release, why isn't the audio in DD-EX 5.1? I thought Burton was going to use that for all of his feature films after he had it for "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Corpse Bride".

i havent seen the movie yet but it looks really good and i enjoy all of depp and burton movies. 2 disc cover art looks great and i like the back cover art where they make it look romantic in a twisted way with all the bloody blades. cant wait to get this movie.

Disciple wrote: I don't really get that last artwork pic, i guessed it was some sort of slip cover just like you, but after a simple matter of placing one over the other in photoshop, this is the result:

Doesn't look right to me. The "Johnny Depp is.." line is half visible and the color scheme of both images are too close to one another, which IMO makes one big mess with little to no contrast between the two.

maybe its supposed to go on the back. have no clue. of course things in the title could always change last minute and the johnny depp is part wouldnt be there at all. good photoshoping tho.

cannot believe the imdb rating, this film is so dreadful. This must be some sort of fix by the movie industry. Are the good reviews coming from people paid by the movie industry? People were walking out of the performance I saw. The songs were awful non of the star actors could properly sing. The lowest point was a duet between Alan Rickman and Timothy Spawll. Both had to speak/sing and croak the noptes they could not reach. The makeup artists could not understand gothic and made Helena Bonham Carta and Johnny Depp look ghoulish and horrible. I felt like slitting my own throat by the end.

Yeah, Disciple, I tried that too, they don't match up properly. All in all, I do prefer the 1-disc art, and I hope BestBuy or somewhere else makes a nice collector's tin or something with that or nicer artwork for the 2-disc. I do like the razor border very much, though, shame the other pic doesn't really match.

I don't really get that last artwork pic, i guessed it was some sort of slip cover just like you, but after a simple matter of placing one over the other in photoshop, this is the result:

Doesn't look right to me. The "Johnny Depp is.." line is half visible and the color scheme of both images are too close to one another, which IMO makes one big mess with little to no contrast between the two.

I prefer the 1-disc image, but not the red background. Both are decent; those are my two favorite posters. But my favorite poster is the one with the two of them like on the one-disc art. Ah, well. Coulda' been worse: the 2-disc could've been that horrendous picture on the cover of the soundtrack.

This movie was very overrated. I thought it was a revenge thriller. Instead it turned out to be a homicidal barber who would kill anyone. There is no character to care about. would rather watch Sleepy Hollow any day

Real dialogue? As opposed to fake dialogue? lol But seriously now, the songs carry the story, so yes - the dialogue is within the songs. The lyrics are witty and have more to them than what is heard 'on the surface'. Like, you might the duet "Pretty Women" is about them singing about pretty women. But it's actually not, it's about these two men singing about the same women but with completely different intentions. It really goes into the characters history and current situation, and their relationship/connection. Sondheim doesn't compose to appeal to the mainstream audience. "You don't check your mind with your coat when you [see] a Sondheim show." as it was said on a dedication performance to him. He's a well-respected composer/lyricist and if you know you're getting yourself into watching an honest-to-God musical, then you should be able to enjoy yourself. And with Burton taking on the classic horror film style, you not only have a classic show on film, but a classic way of filmmaking albeit with a modern spin. All you can do is give it a shot!

This is a great movie. Depp is excellent as usual. I especially loved the scenes with Depp and Carter at the beach. The brightness of those scenes went against Burton's usual style and were quite refreshing.

This movie was one of the best movies of 2007 only Juno is in front of it!!I Like the Art work for the 1 disk set better, but the 2 disk set is just as good!! Will buy 2 disk set the day it comes out!!

hmm...i only saw this once, but i didn't like it as much as i thought i would. i think i need to watch it again though, as i don't really know anyone who didn't absolutely love it. i will say that it's at least a step up from "charlie and the chocolate factory," "corpse bride," and "big fish"

SlitherThru wrote: I heard a lot of good things about this one. Is there any real dialogue or is it all within songs?

Yes, there's some small amount of dialogue, but mostly it's still a musical, sort of an operetta. But the film removes all the chorus numbers from the stage production so aside from characters singing their lines, it's doesn't have the same artificial feel you might get from a big stage musical.

Sweeet! This was my favorite film of last year. 2-disc is mine! And I'm glad they're giving it a nice release, too, unlike so many great movies that are totally screwed in that respect. Wonder what the art will be...

Oh My God! This is my favorite film of 2007 and the 2-Disc Set sounds fantastic! I'm so happy Paramount is treating this film wonderfully on dvd and I cannot wait to get my hands on it. I really want to see the coverart too.

Quote: Johnny Depp and Tim Burton join forces again in a big-screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's award-winning musical thriller "Sweeney Todd." Depp stars in the title role as a man unjustly sent to prison who vows revenge, not only for that cruel punishment, but for the devastating consequences of what happened to his wife and daughter. When he returns to reopen his barber shop, Sweeney Todd becomes the Demon Barber of Fleet Street who "shaved the heads of gentlemen who never thereafter were heard from again." Joining Depp is Helena Bonham Carter as Mrs. Lovett, Sweeney's amorous accomplice, who creates diabolical meat pies. The cast also includes Alan Rickman, who portrays the evil Judge Turpin, who sends Sweeney to prison and Timothy Spall as the Judge's wicked associate Beadle Bamford and Sacha Baron Cohen is a rival barber, the flamboyant Signor Adolfo Pirelli.